HD: Horrid Duplicate or Handy Design? - PART 2

 - The first part can be found here. Read it and continue here when you are done.

Now, let’s go into detail in some games in specific and whether or not it’s a good idea to plant this on a new console.

- God Of War Collection: This should be an obvious one to see. Not only is there nothing wrong with the old iterations, but they're also considered milestones for their era. Brutally attacking the PS2’s performance, both games get a ridiculously stunning visual prowess out of the game. Ask any person only even aware of the series: God Of War delivers on the goods when it comes to graphics. So why update something that doesn’t even need it? It’s not like it’s an 8-bit game to be fully re-rendered into graphical art.

Now, both games are also some of the best action games out there, still to this day. The first one redefined hack and slash as a whole even and the second, even though much of the same, was an equally epic adventure into people’s entrails. Nothing got altered in this sense, it’s still is the same amazing experience, but nothing else. Bluepoint Games should’ve told this project where to go and start creating the next Metroid Prime.

- Ico: Another game known largely for its artful entry into the game world. The story is amazing, but the real treat here is wandering the landscapes in this story of innocent heroism. I almost tear up just thinking about it. But the fact is, the graphical aspect of the game is more than fine, it’s art! So, if there is one thing about this game that doesn’t feel outdated, it’s the visuals. I could understand reworking some of the more rickety controls which irk many people trying to overcome platforms or fend of spirits. But the controls and such will work on the exact same engine; only the framerate will make failing more fluent. That’s a largely missed opportunity.

- Shadow Of The Colossus: Almost all from above statement also applies to this game. If they ever saw the opportunity to update the most dreadful exploration aspect of a game I ever witnessed, this would’ve been the time. Imagine a desolate, interactive plain such as in Fallout where our hero searches for an epic beast.  Unfortunately, nothing of the sort will happen and the boring and dreary desert will just look a little nicer while you fall asleep over your controller.

- Sly Cooper: I don’t see much need in altering a cartoon game, since it’s not meant to be that crisp; it’s a cartoon. Just like with Team Ico games and others, I’m happy that this will bring some hidden gems back into the public’s attention, but the game already exists in the state it came out. You could just press it again or make a new campaign for it, if you really want it to get some attention. All the work for it has been done anyway; no sense doing it again.

- Odin Sphere: Now, this is the only game I’m on the fence about, strangely enough. All above statements still apply, but this is a game that came to fruition very late into the lifespan of thePS2, after the PS3 had already been released. Therefore, a lot of people haven’t even heard of this game, while it is brilliant. Not perfect in gameplay, but a jewel nonetheless. Bringing this back into attention might be a good thing for the game. Although again nothing of the actual game will be tweaked and there are still loads of PS2 copies available, so that seems wasteful at best.

But why not bring these games back? They’re ports and ports exist, what’s so bad about them? Well, it is correct that ports exist. Good thing too, since exclusives are annoying for any consumer. But there’s a large difference between a port and a lazy port. I can still remember clearly the days that people looked down upon lazy rehashes of the same game. And I’m not talking in nostalgia about how grand Super Mario All-Stars was (since it’s the equivalent of this). I’m talking about present day, where people frowned when developers pass off a PC RTS on a console. This still happens today. There is essentially nothing different about that occurrence, which gets harpooned and a HD release, which gets praised. It’s a strange world like that.

No work gets done in tweaking or altering gameplay, only graphics get done over. Take for instance Ico, where the controls could use a decent tweaking. Even if the people in charge of reproducing it do that, this would be nothing more than a glorified patch. And last I checked you can’t pass off a patch as original work. That’s what it basically boils down to: You can’t pass of old work as new work, simply because you added some glitter and a few smiley stickers;  just enough to distract the 30 second attention span of today’s modern young gamer. I can’t turn in my article about Ys Seven’s coding as a new editorial because I update it; it’s an update, it’s not a different creation. In the same line if you alter nothing to a game, it’s still that game and nothing more. For this same reason I’m not a fan of virtual consoles and all that junk reselling ancient games. I appreciate the fact that developers want to see their masterpieces revived, but there are other ways. This is just the exact same thing. If kids had an interest they would look into tracking down said game and platform and play it then; it’s much more fun this way anyway (he said, frantically waving his walking cane).

So, let’s have an example of someone who used a game and added to it, as it should: New Super Mario Bros. The name itself couldn’t have said it better; it’s the same game, but this is actually new! For good cause as well, because the developers went out of their way to rework everything. Simply watch footage of ‘old’ Super Mario Bros on NES and then come back to the DS version. You’ll notice the similarity but it ends there. This is a port fleshed out with such expertise, it deserves nothing but praise to revive a classic that already is a masterpiece on its own. That’s how it should be done and it would be asinine to accept any lesser from developers and to ourselves.

I’d love to see an update in God Of War where Kratos now has to do a choreographed Quick Time Event (QTE) before leaving the underworld. In an epic dance-off, you can now implement an attachment to your old QTE system and create an unused resource. Or you could have him divert a certain path on the way to Olympus, where he now has a Cooking Mama sequence. I assure you Kratos Cooking Mama will flabbergast any –and everyone that ever plays that game.

How about Ico, where certain monsters trigger a 2D beat’em up battle in a completely new, cel-shaded, visual style? Or you could have hidden chambers open up, where a mushroom gives you 3 treasure chests to choose from. You’ll now whisk away Yorda in your snazziest horned raccoon suit. I’m just saying, it’s not hard for developing geniuses to add subtle (subtler than mine) touches to enhance your experience, instead of merely repeating it.

More than probably this debacle will turn out futile. As Sony spearheads ‘Classics HD’, it’s safe to say this trend will be coming to pass more often. Not only that, but it’s also been confirmed that the Team Ico duplication will be done in 3D, another pointless update. Don’t expect anyone to have time left to actually create a game after that making a 3D game 3D-ier.

So, buy into cheap capitalist moves if you must; you’re free to feed any machine you’d like. Just know that this only keeps you an inch further away from something that doesn’t exist yet and you’d like to see. You can already see the existing product, but if you’d like to pay for it again, it’s your choice. If you don’t mind getting further away from exciting original content, then buy new old work. Even yours truly sometimes buys the same water bottles and veggies at the local grocery store; I just expect those to be novel as well, not a tomato someone went to get his shinebox for.

Alas, Billy Bats, we knew thee well.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed.